Time was that you would buy your first property when you were in your 20s and then trade your way up the ladder, making the most of house price growth to buy bigger and bigger homes. We spoke to four older homeowners about their property journeys,and what having managed to buy means for their finances now – and found that even when homes were cheaper there was still a big role for the bank of mum and dad.
Julia Marcks (70) thanks her parents for her good fortune. In 1966, they gave her the deposit for her first house, a three-bed semi in East Bolden, near Newcastle which cost £5,250. They went on to buy her next property outright. She now lives mortgage free in a four-bed detached house worth £400,000 in Littlestone, Kent
My parents gave me £500 when I was 22. I was earning £8 a week working in Harvey Nics with a £1 hair allowance. It was absolutely difficult to save. I went to Newcastle with it in my case and that was the deposit for my first home. Our mortgage was £30 a month, which I thought was a horrendous amount but my husband didn’t. It’s odd, but we never talked about money. I didn’t even know how much he earned. We moved to Littlestone and my parents bought me a three-bed detached bungalow for £14,250 in 1975 and I sold it for £85,000 in 1991. I’ve been lucky because that set me up for what I’ve got now. I swapped my bungalow for this house. I didn’t like it but my husband said to me it will be the best earning capacity I’ll ever have in my life – which has proved to be true. I know that I am just so lucky, only thanks to my parents.
Tricia Bond (70) bought a two-bedroom maisonette on the outskirts of London in 1977 for £10,000. Nearly 40 years later, she’s been mortgage free for 10 years and now lives in a home in York worth more than £300,000
I bought my first home in Harrow, Middlesex when I was 32 with my first husband. I didn’t have to save for a deposit as my father gave me £750. The bank of mum and dad was current even then. Our mortgage was for £9,250. We were apprehensive to take on such a big amount [of debt], but having just had our first child it was impossible to rent. Landlords didn’t want families or permanent tenants in London at that time, so we were forced into it really. We moved several times and eventually bought the house I’m in now, a 1950s detached house in York, for £133,000 in 1989. The houses I’ve owned have been a good investment but it hasn’t been that deliberate. It’s a comfort to know that if I have to downsize I’d have that money. I’ve loaned both my sons deposits for their houses. It would have been difficult for them to get on the property ladder otherwise. In this part of England if you’re married with a young family and you’re getting £40,000 [as a salary], it’s near impossible to save for a deposit and still have some sort of life.
Desiree Steele (83) and her husband bought their first home, a new build three-bed semi in Staines, for £2,000 in August 1954. She now lives mortgage-free in a two-bed serviced flat worth £275,000 in a retirement village in Cranleigh, Surrey
We got married in 1952, when I was 20, and couldn’t afford to buy a house. We just shared two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom in south London. But in 1953 we saw an advert for houses that we could afford buy in Staines. We put a 10% deposit down – which we borrowed from our parents – and had a mortgage for £1,800. My husband earned £8/10s a week and we had to watch every penny. But we managed to get by and have a holiday every year. When my husband died in 1967 the house was valued at £6,350. We had protection that paid off the rest of the mortgage. I sold our house in 1977 for £17,500 and bought a slightly bigger one for just under £17,000. I lived there until I moved here in 2005. Property has been a marvellous investment but I do worry for young ones of today. It must be extremely difficult to save enough money for them to put a deposit down on any property.
Daphne and Chris Wells, both 70, have been married for 47 years. They bought their first home when they were 25, a new three-bed town house in Folkestone Kent, for £3,750. They now live mortgage free in a detached four-bed house worth £500,000
We had been married for two years before we bought our first home. We’d saved the £1,000 deposit ourselves. Chris had a good salary in the merchant navy so couldn’t spend much while away at sea. I already had £500 behind me. Don’t ask me how, as I was only earning £10 a week. We were groomed to be careful as in the 50s things were really tight. We had secondhand furniture. When you turned on our first TV, it was snowy so you banged it on the top and got a picture. You just grew and did things gradually. That attitude has served us well. In 1976 we moved to a semi round the corner that we paid £14,950 for. We did an extension and put another two bedrooms on it. We eventually sold it in 1983 for £39,500 and bought the house we’re in now for £61,000. But then the interest rates shot up to 15% – and our monthly mortgage payments went up to £100 a month. Our aim was always to keep moving up the property ladder. We always wanted a detached house. We think property has been a good investment but we haven’t capitalised on it yet. We gave both our sons £2,500 for deposits on their houses 20 years ago. It would have been difficult for them to get on the property ladder otherwise.
